Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator Candidates
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is in the process of hiring a new offensive coordinator now that Tommy Rees has departed for Alabama. Notre Dame has a talented team returning in 2023, and the reason the Irish made some of the portal decisions they did (Sam Hartman) was a belief this could could make a run at a title.
Freeman must now make a move that is equally aggressive and bold when it comes to hiring a new offensive coordinator. In our most recent show we broke down many of the top targets that should be on the board for Freeman and the Irish program.
Here's a look at the candidates we discussed.
IN HOUSE CANDIDATE
I expect at least one current member of the Notre Dame staff to get a look for the offensive coordinator position, or at least a co-coordinator spot.
Gerad Parker - Parker and Freeman worked together at Purdue and he spent the two seasons prior to his arrival at Notre Dame as the offensive coordinator at West Virginia. Parker's results weren't great, but talking to sources on the West Virginia side of things when Parker was hired by the Irish that the head coach for the Mountaineers had a big hand in those struggles, and it was his offense that Parker was running. Parker did a strong job with the Irish tight ends this season and he's clearly a coach that Freeman trusts and values.
OUTSIDE CANDIDATES
The other coaches that we discussed are outside candidates.
Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills (QB) - There's no bigger splash hire that Freeman could make than Brady, but it will be tough. Brady has made it clear he prefers the NFL, but he's too talented to not pursue. The current coach of the Buffalo Bills, Brady was the pass game coordinator and maestro of the 2019 LSU offense that helped the Tigers win a national championship. Brady helped build an offense that averaged 48.4 points per game, 568.4 yards per game and 7.89 yards per play.
Brady helped turn Joe Burrow into a Heisman winner and wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson into college stars and first round NFL Draft picks. Brady runs a pro-style offense that focuses on spreading teams out. It was a heavy pass offense but the run game was still effective and efficient. He would be able to easily adapt to Notre Dame's offensive personnel.
Andy Ludwig, Utah Utes (OC/QB) - Utah has averaged 35.1 points per game during Ludwig's four seasons in charge of the offense, including 37.4 points per game in the last two seasons, which both ended with Pac 12 titles. Utah also averaged 210.1 rushing yards during his four seasons in charge.
Arguably no coach on this list could make a more smooth transition to Notre Dame than Ludwig would make. He's a pro-style coach whose offense is built around the inside and outside zone, play-action passes, multiple personnel groups and he knows how to get his tight ends heavily involved into the offense. His fit at Notre Dame is hard to ignore, and he has a long track record of success, including during stops at Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.
Joe Moorhead, Akron Zips (Head Coach) - Moorhead left Oregon after two years in charge of the Duck offense to become the head coach at Akron. Moorhead was a finalist for the Notre Dame offensive coordinator position back in 2020, but the position eventually went to Rees. He has a strong track record of success, but his best stint as a coordinator was at Penn State (2016-17). The Nittany Lions 22-5 and scored 39.3 points per game in his two seasons. He has head coaching experience, but his work as a coordinator has been where he's made his mark.
Moorhead runs more of a spread offense, but he's adapted it to fit his personnel. The transition would be relatively smooth, because Moorhead's pass concepts would be quite similar, and he runs a lot of RPOs. His offenses have often featured a mobile quarterback, but it could be easily tailored to fit more of a pocket passer as well.
Mike Denbrock, LSU Tigers (OC/TE) - Landing Denbrock might be challenging due to potentially high salary demands in order to leave LSU, and the fact he doesn't coach quarterbacks. The former Notre Dame offensive coordinator not only has experience at South Bend under two different head coaches, he also worked with Freeman for four seasons at Cincinnati. He did a strong job with LSU this season and he has a reputation as a very strong recruiter.
Denbrock rebuilt a struggling LSU offense and helped fuel the program to a SEC West title. His offense at Notre Dame in 2015 was one of the best in program history, with the Irish setting a modern program record of 7.02 yards per play. Denbrock has coached the offensive line and tight ends for much of his career, and he has a desire to put together a strong ground attack. His pass games have also been explosive, and he has a track record of success with Hiestand.
Jason Candle, Toledo Rockets (Head Coach) - Candle has been Toledo's head coach since 2016, compiling a 54-32 record, including a pair of MAC championships. Despite being the head coach, Candle has also served as the primary playcaller for the Rockets. A wide receiver in college, Candle has coached both wideouts and quarterbacks during his tenure.
Candle has adjusted his offense throughout his tenure at Toledo. He shows a knack to adapt his offense to fit his personnel. There have been times during his tenure where the Rockets were a bit more pro-style and other times where it was more of a spread type of offense. One thing has remained consistent, the Rockets like to run the football. Toledo. Candle took over the offense in 2012, and since then the Rockets have produced seven 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Chip Long - Another former Notre Dame coordinator, Long is currently still unemployed after being fired from Georgia Tech. He played a key role in helping build the Tulane roster that beat USC in the Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame averaged more points per game in three seasons under Long than it did in Rees' three seasons or the three seasons with Denbrock in charge.
Notre Dame's 2017 offense averaged 269.3 rushing yards per game and 6.3 yards per rush. Notre Dame also went 33-6 during his three seasons, and the 2019 offense set a program record for points (478) while averaging 36.8 points per game. Notre Dame went 30-8 with Rees running the offense and 22-16 under Denbrock. Denbrock, of course, was saddled with one of the worst defenses Notre Dame has had in the last 30 years, but the fact is the Irish scored more points under Long than they did during his tenure. Long and Denbrock were also very successful recruiters at Notre Dame.
He'd be a risky hire due to his most recent history at Georgia Tech, but the guy can coach, he can recruit and he already has a relationship with several coaches on the staff.
We also talked about Liam Coen (Kentucky), Aaron Roderick (BYU), Tim Lester (formerly of Western Michigan) and Byron Leftwich during the show.
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